Navigating the Digital Divide: Barriers to Telehealth in Rural Areas

Kendall Cortelyou-Ward, Danielle N. Atkins, Alice Noblin, Timothy Rotarius, P. White, Cyriah Carey · 2020 · Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved

Summary. Telehealth can expand healthcare access in rural areas, but structural barriers prevent widespread adoption where it's needed most. The paper identifies three critical obstacles: inadequate broadband infrastructure, lack of interstate medical licensing agreements, and absence of reimbursement parity laws. Rural populations, racial minorities, elderly people, and those with low education face the steepest disparities. The authors map broadband availability and state policy adoption across the country and recommend policy changes to accelerate rural telehealth implementation.

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@article{cortelyou-ward-2020-navigating-digital-divide-barriers-telehealth,
  title   = {Navigating the Digital Divide: Barriers to Telehealth in Rural Areas},
  author  = {Kendall Cortelyou-Ward and Danielle N. Atkins and Alice Noblin and Timothy Rotarius and P. White and Cyriah Carey},
  journal = {Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved},
  year    = {2020},
  doi     = {10.1353/hpu.2020.0116},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2020.0116}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Navigating the Digital Divide: Barriers to Telehealth in Rural Areas
AU  - Kendall Cortelyou-Ward
AU  - Danielle N. Atkins
AU  - Alice Noblin
AU  - Timothy Rotarius
AU  - P. White
AU  - Cyriah Carey
JO  - Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
PY  - 2020
DO  - 10.1353/hpu.2020.0116
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2020.0116
ER  - 

Details

DOI

10.1353/hpu.2020.0116

Countries

United States

Regions

North America

Categories

rural-healthcare, broadband-and-digital, policy

Added

2026-04-28